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The July FIDE Rating list is now available for download at the FIDE website. GM Garry Kasparov's remain steady at 2830 while Vladimir Kramnik is still sub-2800 (2785 -4). Viswanathan Anand (2774, +10), continues his climb and rounds out the "super three." Hungary's Peter Leko cooled a bit and dropped seven ELO points, but remains at #4 (2739, -7). Veselin Topalov rounds out the top five (2735) while Alexander Grischuk (2732, +31) storms into a tie for 6th with Alexei Shirov (2732, -3). Grishcuk gain of 31 ELO points bolts him past GM Ruslan Ponomariov (2718) as the world's highest-rated junior.
Judit Polgar an amazing 215 ELO points stronger than the next woman (Antoaneta Stefanova, 2503) on the FIDE chart and holds steady at 2718. Koneru Humpy (2468, -28) holds a one-point lead over Chinese sensation Zhao Xue (2467), but falls to #13 on the women's charts. Top Juniors include Grischuk, Ponomariov, Azerbaijan's Teimour Radjabov (2468, +4), France's Etienne Bacrot (2645), and England's Luke McShane. McShane has really come on strong lately with solid performances in Reykjavik and Copenhagen. The Azerbaijani national team still touts four of the world's top junior players: Teimour Radjabov (age 16 at 2648, +4), Shakhriyaz Mamedyarov (age 18 at 2585, -22), Farhad Tahirov (age 16 at 2583, +4) and Vugar Gashimov (age 16 at 2571, -8). These four young men led Azerbaijan to the Chess Olympiad in Bled. Seventeen-year old Gadir Guseinov (2531) is also rising.
In Africa, Morocco's Hichem Hamdouchi still tops the charts (2590, -15). While Hamdouchi's rating is tumbling, he is still well ahead of Egypt's Fouad El-Taher (2505, +12) who moved into the continent's second spot ahead of Algeria's Aimen Rizouk (2501, +2). Amon Simutowe (2424, +13) of Zambia continues his gradual ascent toward his career-high of 2470 and his quest to reach the 2500 mark. He and Watu Kobese (2404) of South Africa are the top players south of the Sahara. The African Junior Champion Johannes Mabusela had a 2355 performance at the Under-20 Championships in Azerbaijan and should vault himself as one of the highest-rated players south of the Sahara. In the Caribbean, Cuba's Lázaro Bruzón (2614, +4) and Lenier Domínguez (2610, +7) lead the charge while Kevin Denny (2319) remains the highest rated player from the English-speaking Caribbean.
In North America, the top player of African descent is Maurice Ashley (2465). William Morrison loses a sizeable amount of points (2377, -13) and is still searching for his 3rd and final IM norm. Stephen Muhammad is rebounding after suffering a couple of sub-par tournaments (2365, -32). Michael Schleifer of Canada is steady at 2356. Emory Tate is steady at 2353 but recently earned an IM norm at the CCA International. In Europe, Sweden's Pontus Carlsson (2361) holds steady and France's former women's champion Raphaelle Delahaye (2189, -9) are players of note.
FIDE Ratings (July 2003)
Posted by The Chess Drum: 12 July 2003
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